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The Insider (film)

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The Insider is a 1999 film which tells the true story of a 60 Minutes television series exposé of the tobacco industry, as seen through the eyes of a real tobacco executive, Jeffrey Wigand. The story was initially not aired because 60 Minutes' parent company, Westinghouse, objected. The story was later aired on February 4, 1996.

It stars Al Pacino (as Lowell Bergman), Russell Crowe (as Jeffrey Wigand), Christopher Plummer (as Mike Wallace), Bruce McGill (as attorney Ron Motley), Diane Venora, Philip Baker Hall (as Don Hewitt), Lindsay Crouse, Debi Mazar, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Colm Feore.

The movie was adapted by Eric Roth and Michael Mann from the Vanity Fair magazine article The Man Who Knew Too Much by Marie Brenner. It was directed by Mann.

It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Russell Crowe), Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published.

Contents

Production

When Mann was in post-production on Heat, Bergman was going through the events depicted in The Insider. Bergman discussed his trials and tribulations with Mann. The director knew of Bergman's reputation as a man of his word and was intrigued. They met in 1989 and talked about a few projects but nothing happened. Over the years, the two men kept in touch, talking about Bergman's experiences and at one point Mann was interested in doing a movie on an arms merchant in Marbella that Bergman knew. Mann first conceived of what would become The Insider (then known only as "The Untitled Tobacco Project") between the Wigand-lite aired interview in November 1995 and February 1996, when the segment aired in its entirety and Bergman was asked to leave 60 Minutes.

With a budget set at $68 million, Mann began collecting a massive amount of documents to research the events depicted in the film: depositions, news reports and 60 Minutes transcripts. He had read a screenplay that Eric Roth had written, called The Good Shepherd, about the first 25 years of the CIA. Based on this script, Mann approached Roth to help him co-write The Insider. Mann and Roth wrote several outlines together and talked about the structure of the story. Roth interviewed Bergman numerous times for research and the two men became friends. After he and Mann wrote the first draft together, at the bar at the Broadway Deli in Santa Monica, Roth met Wigand. The whistle blower was still under his confidentiality agreement and would not break it for Roth or Mann. Roth remembered his first impressions of Wigand were that he came across as unlikable and defensive. As they continued to write more drafts, the two men made minor adjustments in chronology and invented some extraneous dialogue but also stuck strictly to the facts whenever possible. However, Mann and Roth were not interested in making a documentary.

Mann wanted to cast Russell Crowe as Jeffrey Wigand after seeing him in L.A. Confidential. Mann flew Crowe down from Canada where he was in the middle of filming Mystery, Alaska on the actor's one day off and had him read scenes from The Insider screenplay for two to three hours. When Crowe read the scene where Wigand finds out that the 60 Minutes interview he did will not be aired, he captured the essence of Wigand so well that Mann knew he had found the perfect actor for the role. Still, Crowe was apprehensive at playing someone much older than himself when there were so many good actors in that age range. Once Crowe was cast, he and Mann spent six weeks together before shooting began, talking about his character and his props, clothes and accessories. Crowe put on 35 pounds for the role, shaved back his hairline, bleached his hair seven times and had a daily application of wrinkles and liver spots to his skin to transform himself into Wigand. Crowe was not able to talk to Wigand about his experiences because he was still bound to his confidentiality agreement during much of film's development period. To get a handle on the man’s voice and how he talked, Crowe listened repeatedly to a six-hour tape of Wigand.

Al Pacino was Mann's only choice to play Lowell Bergman. He wanted to see the actor play a role that he had never seen him do in a movie before. Pacino, who had worked with Mann previously in Heat, was more than willing to take on the role. To research for the film, Mann and Pacino hung out with reporters from Time magazine, spent time with ABC News and Pacino actually met Bergman to help get in character.

Pacino suggested Mann cast Christopher Plummer in the role of Mike Wallace. Pacino had seen the veteran actor on the stage many times and was a big fan of Plummer's work. Mann had also wanted to work with Plummer since the 1970s. Pacino told Mann to watch Plummer in Sidney Lumet's Stage Struck (1958) and afterwards he was the director's only choice to play Wallace—Plummer did not have to audition. He met with Mann and after several discussions was cast in the film.

The Controversy

Trouble began before The Insider was even released. Don Hewitt and Wallace accused Mann of extreme dramatic license and working with Bergman to transform him into a hero at the expense of the two men. They also said that Bergman negotiated a movie deal with Mann while the case was still going on. They claimed that Bergman was frequently on the phone with Mann and took notes during all CBS meetings.
Pacino and Crowe in The Insider
Enlarge
Pacino and Crowe in The Insider

Wallace, in particular, was upset that the film would not portray him in the most flattering way. He had read an early draft of the screenplay and objected to how quickly he changed his mind and publicly criticized CBS. Mann and Roth agreed to make some changes. Despite revisions, Wallace continued to voice his concerns in the Los Angeles Times and Brill's Content that he would be portrayed unfairly in the movie.

After The Insider was released, Brown and Williamson accused the Walt Disney Company of distorting the truth. They took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal to counter promotional appearances Wigand and those associated with the film were doing. The tobacco company also had representatives at screenings in eight cities handing out cards asking patrons to call a toll-free number that would answer questions about the film.

Brown and Williamson sent at least one cautionary letter to Disney concerning The Insider without even seeing the film. Their problems with the movie came from two scenes: one where Wigand finds a bullet in his mailbox with a threatening note and a scene where Wigand is trailed by a menacing figure at a golf range. Wigand actually reported the first event—although, an FBI agent, who investigated the incident, suggested in a federal affidavit that Wigand might have put the bullet there himself. Mann has acknowledged that the second scene was in fact fictional and created for dramatic effect.

Despite an aggressive promotion campaign that even saw Rosie O'Donnell promoting The Insider on three of her shows in one week (interviewing Pacino, Plummer and Wigand) and opening in more than 1,600 theatres, the movie failed to pull in impressive figures at the box office.

Trivia

See also

External links

 

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